Tight-lock car coupler



July 4, 1939. VAN DQRN 2,164,96

TIGHT-1106K CAR COUPLER Filed Aug. 19, 1937 4- Shoets-Sheet l jzz zfarrff 2 41. am,

y 1939. H. E. VAN DORN TIGHT-LOCK CAR COUPLER Filed Aug. 19, 1937 4Sheets-Sheet 2 law y 4, 1939. H. E. VAN DORN I 9 TIGHT-LOCK CAR COUPLERFiled Aug. 19, 1937 v4 Sheets-Shut 5 July 4, 1939. H. E. VAN DORNTIGHT-LOCK CAR COUPLER Filed Aug. 19, 1937 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 PatentedJuly 4, 1939 UNITED STATES TIGHT-LOCK CAR COUPLER Herbert E. Van Dorn,

Chicago, Ill., assignor to The Dornvan Corporation, a. corporation ofIllinois Application August 19,

7 Claims.

In my prior Patent No 1,403,657, there is illustrated a car coupler ofthe tight-lock type having a locking dog in the form of ahorizontallyswinging bail which engages with and embraces a noseprojecting forwardly from a cooperating,

similar coupler in making a coupling. The present invention relates tocouplers of the character illustrated in said patent and has for itsobject to improve the same.

In my prior coupler the outer, vertical Working face of the couplernose, which is engaged by the vertical member of the locking dog, is soshaped that a wedging action takes place between the nose of one couplerand the locking dog in a companion coupler, in the act of coupling;thereby causing the nose to be wedged tightly in place in thecooperating coupler. This configuration of the coupler nose providescompensation for wear in that, as wear occurs, the locking dog need onlyswing farther forward upon the nose. The angle through which the lockingdog may swing from a working position when the parts are new to a finalworking position in an old coupler is small. Therefore, if it be desiredto compensate for a very considerable wear on the working face of thelocking dog, the slope of the cooperating facing on the coupler nosemust be made relatively steep. In accordance with my invention I soshape the working face on the nose and the complementary face on thelocking dog that the face on the locking dog always lies at a very smallangle, say about 2, to a plane tangent to the nose along the line ofcontact between the dog and the nose. Therefore, viewed in one of itsaspects, the present invention may be said to have for its object tomake provision for compensating for any desired amount of wear on thelocking dog, without making the angle of the wedge, as it were, largeenough to reduce the effectiveness of the grip of the locking dog on thenose under all conditions. In other words, the invention may be said tohave for its object to improve the aforesaid prior coupler so as to takecare of a much greater amount of wear without diminishing theeffectiveness of the hold of the locking dog on the nose of the coupler.

A further object of the present invention, is so to connect a manualoperating lever to the'locking dogthat the lever may remain stationarywhile the dog is swinging into a locking position in the act ofuncoupling and also, while the dog is being pushed back by the nose ofan oncoming coupler and then returns to a locking position, in effectinga coupling,

1937, Serial No. 159,829

The various features of novelty whereby my invention is characterizedwill hereinafter be pointed out with particularity in. the claims; but,for a full understanding of my invention and of its objects andadvantages, reference may be had' to the following detailed descriptiontaken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a coupler head embodying the presentinvention; Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal section, on a larger scalethan Fig. 1, through the coupler head, all of the movable parts withinthe head being shown in elevation; Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectionthrough the head, all of the movable parts within the head except thepivotal shaft of the locking dog, being shown in plan; Fig. 4 is a viewlooking forwardly from behind the coupler head, the shell or casing ofthe head being shown as a section taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 3; Fig. 5 isa section taken approximately on line 5-5 of Fig. 3; Fig. 6 is a sectionon line 6-6 of Fig. 2, showing only a small fragment of the mechanism;Fig. '7 is a section on line 11 of Fig. 2, illustrating still anotherfragment; and Figs. 8, 9 and 10 are more or less diagrammatic viewsillustrating the manner in which takeup for wear is accom lished.

Referring to the drawings, I represents a hollow coupler head having atone side a forwardly projecting nose 2 and being open at the frontbeside this nose to permit the entrance of the nose of a companioncoupler. Within the coupler head is a locking dog 3 in the form of ayoke or bail that swings about a vertical axis through the free ends ofthe arms of the yoke which lie one above the other; the nose of acompanion coupler being adapted to 'be embraced and tightly gripped bythis yoke. A vertical hinge pin 4 for the locking dog or yoke isjournalled at its ends in a pair of cylindrical bearing blocks 5, 5rotatable in suitable bearings in the top and bottom walls of thecoupler head; the axis of the hinge pin being eccentric to the commonaxis of the bearing blocks 5, 5. Consequently, if the bearing blocks areturned, the hinge pin is shifted bodily. On the pin 4, between the upperand lower arms of the yoke or hail of the locking dog, is a more or lesscylindrical casting 6. Each of the bearing blocks 5, each of the twoarms of the locking dog, and the casting 6 is provided with one or more.arms projecting rearwardly therefrom, radially of the hinge pin. Thearms on the bearing blocks are indicated at l, 1, those on the lockingdog at 8, 8, and those on the casting 6 at 9, 9. Each of the arms 1 and8 contains a deep notch opening out through the rear edge thereof. Thearms 9 have therein openings ID that register with each other and withthe notches in the arms 1 and 8. A pin II which is a fit in the openingsl0, l0 extends vertically through these openings, and through thenotches in the arms I and 8. The notches [2, in the arms 1 and 8, asbest shown in Fig. 3, have a width substantially equal to the diameterof the pin I I, whereas the notches I4 in the arms 8 on the locking dog,have an angular width, as best shown in Fig. 6, considerably greaterthan the diameter of the pin H. The pin H is fastened to one of the arms9 by means of a small pin I5. The casting 6 has two additional arms l6,l6 projecting laterally be'-,

hind the hollow nose 2. A compression spring I! is arranged between anabutment l8 lying between the arms l6 and secured thereto for rock ingmovements by a pin l9, and an abutment 20 in the front end of the nose2.

Whenever left free to do so, the spring I! rocks the casting 6 in theclockwise direction-as viewed in Fig. 3. Since the pin ll moves with thecasting 6 and fills the width of the slots M in the arms of thebearingblocks 5, these bearing blocks are also turned in the clockwisedirection. If the pin ll occupied the position, relatively to thenotches l4 in the arms 8 of the locking yoke, as indicated in dottedlines in Fig. 6, the locking dog is not caused to move until the pin Htravels across the notch l4 into the full line position indicated inFig. 6, whereupon the casting 6, the bearing blocks 5 and the lockingdog are caused to move in unison with each other. In Fig. 3 the lockingdog is shown in what may be regarded as its locking position before wearhas taken place. The nose of a companion coupler, shown in dotted linesin- Fig. 3, serves as a stop to prevent further swinging movement of thelocking dog, and therefore, of the other parts. However, were thiscoupler nose not present, the locking dog would swing in the clockwisedirection through an additional angle of perhaps 16.

It will be seen that the bearing blocks 5 are so positioned that asthese blocks turn in the clockwise direction toward and past theposition illustrated in Fig. 5, the" hinge pin 4 ismoved laterallyfarther behind the nose forming part of the same coupler head. In otherwords, the locking yoke or dog is moved bodily in a radial direction todraw it tightly against the nose of a cooperating coupler. On the otherhand, whenever the locking dog is swung in the counterclockwisedirection, as viewed in Fig. either through engagement with the nose ofan; oncoming coupler, or through actuating means acting on the pin II,the locking yoke or dog is shifted radially in the opposite direction.It will be seen, however, that a swinging movement of the locking dog oryoke is always accomplished by slight lengthwise shifting of the same.The lost motion between the pin- I l and the locking dog or yoke has forits purpose to relieve the pressure between the working face 2| on thedog and the cooperating working face 22 on the nose of a companioncoupler, in the act of uncoupling, before the yoke begins to swing backinto a release position; this being a function that is also performed bythe eccentrics in my aforesaid prior patent. The only purpose of theeccentrics in my prior patent is to relieve the pressure, whereas in thepresent instance the eccentrics serve as a takeup during the entirerange of forward swinging movements of the locking dog.

The locking dog may conveniently be shifted into its unlocking positionby a horizontally swinging hand lever 24 hingedly connected at its frontend, as at 25, to the side of the coupler head. A torsion spring 26serves constantly to hold the lever close to the head. The connectionbetween the lever and the locking dogisaconnecting rod 21 having at itsouter end an elongated slot 28 through which passes a pin 29 fixed tothe lever 24. The connecting rod extends through a hole 30 in the sidewall of the coupler head and I has at its inner end a long slot 31through which the pin ll passes. When two couplers are engaged, theparts occupy the position shown in Fig. 3; the pins 29 and I I being atcorresponding ends of their slots 28 and 3|. In order to bring thelocking dog into its release position, the lever 24 need only be swungin the counter-clockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 3, until the pin29 reaches the outer end of the slot 28, whereupon the connecting rodwill begin to pull on the pin l I soas to turn the casting 6 in thecounterclockwise direction. *The relation between the pin II and thenotches [4 in the arms 8 on the locking dog is at this time thatindicated in full lines in Fig. 6. Consequently, the casting 6 and theeccentric bearing blocks are turned through a small angle, without anyturning movement of the locking yoke occurring, until the pin H crossesthe notches l4 and assumes the position illustrated in dotted lines inFig. 6. During this preliminary turning movement of the eccentrics, asimple radial movement of the locking dog occurs in the direction toseparate the working faces 2! and 22, so that there is no frictionalresistance between these working faces to interfere with the freerearwardly swinging movement of the dog into its release position.

When the locking dog is swung back as far as it will go through theoperation of the hand lever,

it is locked in its farthest back or release position by any usual orsuitable catch devices.

In the arrangement shown there is a link 32 connecting the pin l l witha horizontally-swinging arm 34 in the rear portion of the coupler.

Cooperating with this arm is a horizontally When the lever 24 is swungoutwardly from the side of the coupler, causing the locking dog to swingback into its release position and the spring I! to be compressed, thedog engages the pawl 35 I in the usual way and swings the end 36 thereofrearwardly beside the face 31 on the arm 34; thereby causing the pawl tohold the dog in release position until the pawl is tripped. When theoperator lets go of the lever 24, the spring 26 returns the lever to itsnormal position of rest, as shown in Fig. 3; the slot 3| being longenough to permit the connecting rod to return to the position which itoccupies in Fig. 3, while the locking dog remains stationary. Then, whenthe cars separate and the coupler nose shown in dotted lines in-Fig. 3moves out through the front end of the coupler, it trips the pawl andallows the spring I! to throw the locking dog forward again. Thisforward movement of the dog is accomplished without producing anymovement of the lever 24, the pin ll simply travelling along the slot 3|in the connecting rod. Fig. 3 shows the locking dog in a normal couplingposition; but, when the dog swings forwards upon separation of thecouplers, it moves forward beyond that position. Consequently, the pin II may at this time pull the connecting rod 21 inwardly, such movementbeing permitted by the pin and slot connection between the connectingrod and the hand lever. When cars come together to effect an automaticcoupling, the nose of each coupler enters the opposite coupler, pushesback the locking dog which it encounters and then permits the dog toswing forward into locking relation thereto. These latter movements ofthe dogs take place without disturbing the respective hand levers on thecouplers. It will thus be seen that there is no movement of the handlever of a coupler except at the time of setting the locking dog in itsrelease position.

In Figs. 8 to 10 I have illustrated, more or less diagrammatically, themanner in which a locking dog and the nose of a coupler cooperate ineffecting a tight lock and in taking up wear. The diagrams are based onlooking positions covering a range of about sixteen degrees. In Fig. 8the locking dog is shown in full lines in the normal locking position,before wear occurs, with respect to the nose of another coupler;whereas, in dotted lines it is shown as having been shifted radially byreason of the turning of the eccentrics through an angle of sixteendegrees. In Fig. 9 the extent to which the working or looking face ofthe locking dog is shifted inwardly with respect to the coupler nose inswinging through its range of locking positions is shown; no accountbeing taken of the effect of the eccentrics. In Fig. 10 is shown theresult of the combined actions illustrated in Figs. 8 and 9; Fig. 10showing the operation of the locking dog in actual practice. It will beseen that one-half of the total takeup may be provided by the action ofthe eccentrics and the other half by the configuration of thecooperating locking faces. Thus, if a takeup of three-sixteenths of aninch is desired, the eccentrics may provide three thirty-seconds of thatamount and the contours the remaining three thirty-seconds.

The simplest way of properly shaping the looking surface on the couplernose is to machine it as a section of a cylinder having its axisparallel to the axis of the hinge of the dog in a cooperating coupler,but spaced somewhat nearer the front of the latter coupler (when the twocouplers are in coupled relation) than is the said hinge pin axis. Theaxis of the hinge pin of the locking dog is in advance of the axis ofthe corresponding eccentrics which is the effective hinge axis of thedog while in a locking position. In Figs. 8 to 10, A and B representrespectively the axis of the eccentrics and of the corresponding hingepin in a coupler, while C represents the axis of the locking face on thecoupler nose with which the locking dog engages.

In Fig. 9 the line D represents a tangent to the face 22 at the end ofthe radius 0, while the line E is a continuation of the line of the face2| of the locking dog. These two lines lie at an angle of about twodegrees with respect to each other. As the working face of the dog wearsaway, the dog swings farther forward but its working face always lies atthe same angle to the new portion of the cooperating face of the nose.Since the angle between the two surfaces that are being wedged togetherwhile cars remain coupled is very small, the greater the pressure, themore positive will be the locking action; and since this same smallangle is maintained after wear takes place, the coupler will lock itselfsecurely to a companion coupler until the locking dog becomes so wornthat it can swing no farther forward.

While I have illustrated and described with particularity only a singlepreferred form of my invention, I do not desire to be limited to theexact structural details thus illustrated and described; but intend tocover all forms and arrangements which come within the definitions of myinvention constituting the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In combination, a car coupler head, a dog in the head to engage witha part on a second head to lock the two heads together, and a mountingfor said dog to permit it to be brought into wedging engagement with thesaid part of the second coupler through simultaneous swinging and bodilyradial movement and to be shifted radially away from said part beforebeginning a swinging movement in unlocking.

2. In combination, a car coupler head, a dog in the head to engage witha part on a second head to lock the two heads together, a hinge pinwhose axis at all times forms the hinge axis for the dog, an actuatorfor said dog, a driving connection permitting a lost motion between theactuator and the dog, and means operated by the actuator to shift thehinge pin transversely of its axis when the actuator is moved.

3. In combination, a coupler head, a dog in the head to engage with apart on a second head to lock the two heads together, a mounting forsaid dog comprising separated bearing blocks rotatable about a commonfixed axis and a hinge pin supported by the said blocks with its axisspaced apart from and parallel to the aforesaid axis, an actuator forturning said blocks, and a driving connection containing a lost motionbetween said actuator and said dog.

4. In combination, a hollow car coupler head, a dog in the head toengage with a member on a second similar head that enters the first headin coupling to lock the two heads together, and a mounting for said dogto permit it to be brought into wedging engagement with a working faceof the said member of the second coupler through simultaneous swingingand bodily radial movement and to be shifted radially away from saidworking face before beginning a swinging movement in unlocking; the saidworking face curving gradually outwardly from the path of travel of thecooperating face on the dog from the zone of contact between such facesbefore wear takes place, thereby insuring a tight look when the lockswings farther forward, in looking, after wear occurs.

5. In combination, a car coupler head, a dog in the head to engage witha part on a second head to lock the two heads together, a hinge pinwhose axis at all times forms the hinge axis for the dog, aspring-pressed actuator for said dog, a driving connection permitting alost motion between the actuator and the dog, means operated by theactuator to shift the hinge pin transversely of its axis when theactuator is moved, a lever pivoted at one end to the side of the couplerhead, a spring tending constantly to hold the lever lying against thehead, and a connection between the lever and the actuator having thereina lost motion permitting the dog to move from a locking position into arelease position without moving the lever.

6. In combinatioma car coupler head, a dog in the head to engage with apart on a second head to lock the two heads together, a hinge pin whose.axis at all times forms the hingeaxis for the dog, aspring-pressed-actuator for said dog, adriving connection permitting alost -motion betweenthe actuator and the dog, means operated by theactuator to shift the hinge -pin transversely of its axis when theactuator is moved, a lever pivoted at one endto the side of the couplerhead, a spring tending constantly to hold the lever flat against thehead, and a connecting means between the lever and the actuator havingtherein a lost motion permitting the

